The present invention pertains to utility trenches for routing utility cables.
Utility cables are often buried beneath the earth to hide the cables and to protect them from damage, especially in residential or business areas. Buried utility cables, however, suffer many drawbacks. For example, various utility providers (such as electric, telephone and television providers) often work independently and bury their respective cables in separate locations. Such non-uniform burying of cables may lead to confusion regarding utility company rights of way and creates the danger of cables being severed or damaged during excavation by homeowners, developers, or other utility providers. If the cables are severed or otherwise damaged, repair or replacement requires the costly and time-consuming process of digging up of the buried cables. Furthermore, cables which are buried in the earth must be manufactured with relatively expensive insulation to protect the cables against moisture, heat, and damage from rodents.
To address some of the problems associated with exposed, buried cables, cable trenching systems have been developed to enclose the buried cables in a conduit. Previous trenching systems have typically been made from precast sections of concrete and are thus very heavy and costly compared to other available structural materials. Some trenching systems have been designed to function additionally as sidewalk sections to take advantage of their concrete structure. These precast concrete systems are installed into excavated trenches where nonuniform footing makes them susceptible to poor fit at the joints, which in turn may lead to rocking or shifting of the sidewalk sections.
Many of the previous trenching systems are designed to have only a single compartment for accommodating cables. As such, these prior art systems are not designed to handle incompatible cables which should be kept separate, such as electric cables and telephone or television cables. These incompatible cables must be kept separate due to the high voltage carried by electric cables which may interfere with the telephone or television cables, or create a hazardous environment for telephone or television utility employees who must access the trenching system.
For at least these reasons, there is a need for an improved utility trenching system for routing and protecting incompatible utility cables within a single unitary structure which is relatively lightweight and inexpensive compared to prior cable trenching systems.
The present invention provides a utility cable trenching system that separates incompatible utility cables while also providing a stable sidewalk surface. The utility trenching and sidewalk system of the present invention comprises modular units formed from relatively lightweight plastic composite material. Each module has outer sidewalls, a bottom wall, and at least one removable cover, which together form a channel. Advantageously, each module includes an inner sidewall for providing two interior compartments for separating incompatible cables. The modular units are fastened together in an excavated trench to form a continuous conduit in which the various cables may be laid, with incompatible cables located in separate compartments. The cables may be routed in and out of the compartments through ports in the sidewalls at various locations along the assembled utility trench.
The assembled modules are configured to provide a recess that serves as a form for receiving a paving material to create a sidewalk surface. The paving material, for example, may be precast pavers or mixed concrete which is poured into the recess and cured in situ. Lifting hooks positioned at various locations on the paving material aid in removing the paving material so that the cable compartments may be accessed.
In accordance with the present invention, a method for installing a utility trenching and sidewalk system, includes the steps of excavating a trench, placing modular utility sidewalk units adjacent one another in the trench to form a substantially continuous conduit, fastening adjacent modules togther, laying utility cable in the conduit, installing covers to the modules, and pouring concrete into a form created by the series of adjacent modules to form a sidewalk.
These and other features, advantages, and objectives of the invention will become more readily apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art upon review of the following detailed description of the preferred embodiments, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.